Bobby pin holder and opener



Jan. 15, 1952 W. E. ROBERTS BOBBY PIN HOLDER AND OPENER Filed May 13, 1949 ,ii 11' H I u 1i; 9!! u TIQQ INVENTOR.

W597 E 2055/? 7:5 BY

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 15, 1 952 B BBY; PINHOLDER ANDyOPENER.

Wert E. Roberts, La- Junta, Colo assignor of? fifty per centtoRobert Ford, 0010.;

Application May 13, 1949, SeriaPNo. 9316-7 eel-aims; o1. f zz-1 This invention relates to a'bobby pin dispenser, and has for its principal object the-provision of a neat, simple; and highlyefiicient device-which will hold a plurality of bobby pins'in'convenient position to bepickedup by a beautyoperator, and which will deliver each pininthe-opened, ready-towse'position;

Another objectof the invention is to provide a receiver for bobby "pins into which they may be.=placed-.as:they are removed-from thehain and which will receive and hold the bobby'pins in individual, separated position.

A further object is to so construct the device thatitmay be folded into a thin, fiat package whichcan be easily placed. in ra dresserdrawer when notin use, andwhichwillattach itself to a dresser '-top in convenient position when inuse.

Other objects, and. advantages. reside. in; the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efiiciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved bobby pin holder, illustrating it in position for use;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end view thereof; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 2.

The device is designed for receiving, holding, and opening hair pins of the type known as bobby pins, such asillustrated at In in the drawing.

The improved dispenser is preferably formed from transparent plastic of a type which can be readily cleaned and sterilized. It consists of a base plate II provided with rubber vacuum cups I2 having flanged necks I3 which are inserted through and expand in openings in the base plate II. Two U-shaped receiving channels I4 are cemented to or formed integrally with the base plate II so as to project upwardly therefrom in alignment with each other along the medial line thereof.

An elongated receiving slot I5 is formed in v the base plate II at each side of, and parallel to, the channels I 4. The holders, per se, consist of T-shaped carrier strips I6 provided with longitudinally extending, vertical legs H. The strips I6 support a plurality of spaced-apart, par- Cad l a e R ckallel; vertical partition. teeth I8: which" maybe:

cemented to the strips I61 or. molded integrally therewith. 7

The upper. portion of the adjacent. teetln I8iare 1 joined by means ofverticalseparating members I 9.. having flat. side.- faces. The; separating. mem;;; bers I9 are relatively thin so thatthezteethgpros jectslaterally:from:theuseparating:membersiv Ehe two. legs .of the pins; I Ibpass; downwardly. 0111013130: site; sides-pf; thasepamtihgmembersr I31 31111113132 maintained in parallelalignment:bymeanspflthe teeth,IB.q

The "'teethj L8; are-.setr.rearwardly on the 17+, shaped .1 strips; I 6-; soi.that;-; the; for-wards. portion; of the. strip. lfizprojectsebeyondzthe vertical: leg-127:. The slots. l5 are designed-sto; receive. thisc-projectls ing portionsov that. the-.holderscmay. lie flatcupon thebase. platel- I whereitheyl will =bee-maintained in position by means of the slots I5.

Let us assume that a beauty operator desires to use the device. She places one of the holders upright in the receivin channels I4 by inserting the vertical leg I! thereof into the receiving channels I4. She then reaches for each pin successively and before removing the pin, tilts it either forwardly or backwardly, as shown in broken line in Fig. 3, to cause the separating members I9 to separate the two legs of the pin. The separated or opened pin is then grasped between the thumb and forefinger and held in the open position until it is in place in the hair. As the separating members I9 are spaced upwardly from the strip I6 the legs of the pins may pass through the space between the separators and the strip as the pins are tilted and ample room is provided for downward flexing of the lower legs of the pins. It should also be noted that as the teeth I8 are thicker than the separators they project from the separators laterally thereof, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and when the pins are tilted towards the upward position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3 the wide side faces of the teeth will prevent the pins from twisting horizontally upon upper and lower edges of the separators and springing on of the separators before they be reached by the fingers of the operator and becoming lost.

After all of the pins in one holder have been used, it is laid on the base plate II with its strip I6 in one of the slots I5, and the other holder is placed in the vertical position in the receiving channels I4 ready for use.

When the pins are removed from the hair, they are simply forced downwardly upon the separating strips I9 which act to wedge the two legs apart and support the pins in vertical, spacedapart position ready for use.

For storage, both strips l6 are laid upon the base plate, with their projecting edges engaged in the slots I so as to present a relatively thin, portable package.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for supporting and for spreading the legs of a bobby pin comprising: a carrier strip; a plurality of vertical, spaced-apart partition teeth extending from said carrier strip; and separating members joining the upper portions of the adjacent teeth and spaced upwardly from the carrier strip, said separating members having less thickness than said teeth and adapted to pass between the legs of a bobby pin as it is forced downwardly thereover between the adjacent teeth, and said teeth projecting laterally from the separating members and serving to guidetilting movement of pins about the separating members.

2. A device for supportin and for spreading the legs of a bobby pin comprising: a carrier strip; a plurality of vertical, spaced-apart partition teeth extending upwardly from the carrier strip; and separating members joining the upper portions of the adjacent teeth and spaced upwardly from the strip, said separating members having flat side faces and being of less thickness than said teeth and adapted to pass between the legs of a bobby pin as it is forced downwardly thereover between the adjacent teeth, the space between said teeth below said separating members being unobstructed so that a bobby pin may be tilted sidewardly thereon between the teeth and pass through the space and allow said separating members to separate the legs of the pin.

3. A device for supporting and for spreading the legs of a bobby pin comprising: a plurality of vertical, spaced-apart partition teeth; separating members joining the upper portions of the adjacent teeth, said separating members being of a thickness adapting them to pass between the legs of a hobby pin as it is forced downwardly thereover between the adjacent teeth and the teeth projecting laterally from the separating members to provide portions guiding tilting movement of pins across the separating members, the space between said teeth below said separating members being unobstructed so that bobby pins may pass through the spaces as they are tilted about the separating members to cause said separating members to separate the legs of the pins; a strip secured along the bottoms of and supporting said partition teeth; a base plate, and means for removably supporting said strip above said base plate in position to maintain said partition teeth vertical.

WERT E. ROBERTS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,150,144 Andersen Mar. 14, 1939 2,305,925 Josephs Dec. 22, 1942 2,402,236 Calafiore June 18, 1946 2,444,378 Sewol June 29, 1948 

